Question

Apart from entertaining readers, what are the other two main purposes of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death"?

A)to reveal the prince's wealth

B)to show how power and wealth can't shelter people

C)to describe the elaborate and extravagant party hosted by the prince

D) to criticize those who lack empathy for others

Answer 1

Poe's reasons for writing this novel are B) and D). He shows how although Prince Prospero brings nobles into his castle (power) and hosts a long, extravagant party (wealth), this does not stop the Red Death from slipping in and eventually killing him and everyone else, proving that power & wealth cannot stop death. Also, Prospero's move showed that he only cared for the rich and upper-class, and left the poor and lower-class to suffer outside the castle. He expected to "wait out" the disease in the castle, while letting others die outside.